Month: June 2017

The Deputy Minister for Transport who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tema East constituency, Hon Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover has assured Industries located in the Tema Industrial enclave of his determination to help fix the poor road-network in the area.

The Tema East legislator disclosed that he had already begun discussions with the Roads and Highways Minister on the deteriorating nature of the Industrial area roads and the urgent need to fix them.

According to him, the industrial area road stretching from T T Brothers Ltd all the way down to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) environ is under serious government consideration and would soon be awarded on contract to help ease to burden off businesses operating in the area.

Hon Titus Glover gave the assurance when he paid a working visit to the Tema Heavy Industrial area which coincidentally falls within his constituency to familiarize himself with the challenges facing companies within the catchment area.

The Deputy Transport Minister who is also Chairman of the Trade, Industry and Tourism select Committee of Parliament comforted the Captains of Industry of government’s commitment to provide a business friendly environment for their smooth operation.

He mentioned the recent tax cuts as a testimony of governments’ commitment towards creating a thriving atmosphere for the private sector to grow and create more employment opportunities.
Hon Titus-Glover promised to relay all the concerns of the Industry players to the appropriate authorities for redress.

Managing Director of Tropical Cables and Conductors, Dr Tony Oteng Gyasi noted that since very heavy machines and vehicles ply the industrial area roads, it is not economically viable for the companies located in the area to burden themselves to fix the road.

According to him firms that are located in the area pay very huge sums of money in the forms of taxes to government hence the need for government to help put the roads into good use to enable businesses to remain functional.

He also raised concerns about the unregulated manner in which kiosks are springing up on the industrial lands and the indiscriminate burning of car tyres and its attendant challenges. These he noted posed threat the industrial enclave saying; “there is the need to make the Tema Industrial area showcase to befit its status as a true Industrial enclave of Ghana’’.

On his part, Mr Isaac Tetteh, Managing Director of T T Brothers Limited also expressed bitter sentiments about the poor road condition in the Tema Industrial area over the last decade.

He noted that the dusty nature of the area as a result of the poor road-network brings additional cost into their operation because most of them spent additional budgets on product cleaning on daily basis.
He also noted that several attempts to get the road fix in the past proved futile and expressed frustration at the neglect.

“It is not fair for us to be treated this way, most of us, the companies here in the Industrial area are the highest tax paying companies in the country but our roads are very bad, He lamented.

Mr Tetteh however took solace in the assurance given by the MP for the area to help get the road constructed. Another concern raised by the Industrialists include the challenge of power fluctuation which is negatively affecting production.

Some of the firms located in the Industrial Area includes,T T Brothers ltd, Tropical Cables and Conductors, Nexans Kabelmetal Ghana Ltd, DVLA, Nestle Ghana, Foundaries & Agricultural Machinery Ghana Ltd, TOR, Chrocodile Machets ltd, among several others.

By Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com

Former Second Deputy Speaker in the sixth Parliament of the fourth Republic, Honorable Joe Ghartey, says the speaker of Parliament is more powerful than a judge, when it comes to ruling on a matter.

He made this remarks, when selected students of various Senior High Schools (SHS) under the chief justice’s mentorship program visited Parliament to familiarize themselves with workings of Parliament.

The Chief Justices mentorship programme which is an annual programme, has been running for the past ten years. The Chief Justices mentorship programme was under the theme “mobilizing for Ghana’s future, the right duties and obligation of a responsible youth”.

Students numbering more than two hundred (200), had the opportunity to have a feel of how the chamber of Parliament looks like, whiles the Second Deputy Speaker took the visiting students through how Parliaments works.

He noted that, when a judge rule against you, it can go for an appeal and travel through the court system where judges are empanel to deal with the issue.

“Speaker one person just sitting here, when he rules it is final, even if you come by a substantive motion against his ruling it will come back to same person”, he remarked.

People say Members of Parliament do not have a mind of their own, “yes it is true, if you want to have a mind of your own come as an independent candidate” As a parties representative 99 % percent of the time the party will not tell what to do, but on sensitive matters where the party has position they will tell you what to do, he said.

As Speakers we do not contradict ourselves in our rulings, when a first or second Deputy Speaker of Parliament makes a ruling and a Member of Parliament wants to be smart, when the speaker takes the chair. The Speaker will point out to him or her that the ruling of the first and second Deputy Speakers holds, the Essikado-Ketan legislator said.

Mrs Iren Afrifa a teacher at Akropong School for the blind, in an interview with ghanamps.com was so grateful for the opportunity given by the chief and her happiness to visit Parliament with some of her students.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North in the Eastern Region, Betty Krosby Mensah, has petitioned Parliament over what she describes as the illegal detention of some 24 children in the area by the Gender Ministry and a Non-Governmental Organisation.

According to the MP, the children were picked up in April 2017 this year on suspicions they were being engaged in child labour. She argued that the NGOs approach is suspicious.

Speaking to Citi News, Ms. Mensah said the concerns of her constituents were that “this NGO, International Justice Mission, never consulted with stakeholders, traditional rulers or opinion leaders to really understand the cultural setting of the Afram Plains area.”

“We simply believe that whatever they were doing is our way of life. Children as young as six years are trained on how to use the lake and how to swim and to survive. When any NGO wakes up without really understanding the setup of the constituency and somebody sits in Accra and writes a report on things they really don’t know about, it becomes a problem.”

“As I speak to you know, we don’t know the whereabouts of the children. These communities were raided during the time children were on vacation and right now, schools have reopened. We need the children to go back to school.”

Some of the stakeholders in the constituency have drafted a petition, and Ms. Mensah has tried to get in touch with the Gender Ministry to present the petition “but all attempts have proven futile.”

“Currently, I have filed the report with the secretariat. I have copied the IGP’s office because there were some police involved in the raid. I have also filed a copy of the petition to the right honourable speaker’s office. I am waiting for the Speaker’s approval and then I will take it on,” the MP said.

Citifmonline.com/Ghana